Love and Loss and California

Let’s get the bad news out of the way. Our trip to California began with me almost missing the plane, a) because I stayed late at work talking to my brother on the phone and hadn’t packed, and then b) rushed home and packed in a hurry, leaving various semi-important items out like moisturiser and swimsuit (which was ok because it gave me an excuse to buy a trashy bikini in H&M), and c) still left with Mara with just enough time to make our flight, but d) while staring at my boarding pass trying to work out why I didn’t have an “A” or “B” on it, realised that I was at the wrong gate, and it wasn’t “our” flight after all, but that I d) needed to run like mad to catch my own flight in a different concourse, which I e) did.

Mara made a comment later about how she'd always thought I was more together than that.

Then we got the rental car, which smelled like smoke, so we switched it for one that didn’t, in the process leaving one of our bags behind with someone’s laptop in it. And then we got somewhat lost driving to Mara’s sister’s house. But not really lost because we had gps! Just a lot of “hold on...yeah, do a u-turn here.”

I think by this time, Angie had probably started wondering what sort of travelling companions she’d landed herself with.

So there was much calling of airlines and rental companies to try to track down the laptop, which sadly did not happen. And then, unbeknownst to us, we apparently committed a $450 traffic violation (seriously, if I’m going to do something $450 worth of naughty, I would sort of hope that I’d be aware of it. And I thought we were pretty careful about the u-turns!), which we’re still trying to resolve.

So.

But the rest of the trip was so lovely! We were there for Tricia and Stephen’s wedding, and that was truly wonderful. It was great to meet their families, especially as talking to Brits in America always makes me feel a little bit at home. And the wedding went beautifully, and everyone looked very happy ever after.

Then Mara and Angie and I played for the rest of the weekend. Angie left a little earlier, presumably heaving sighs of relief to get out alive. Mara and I went to stay at her brother and sister-in-law’s place, and we went out for Indian food the first night.

I’d told Mara that I sometimes get sick of people asking me the same old questions about where I’m from. Very kindly, she tried to save me from the ordeal by telling her brother while I was out of earshot that he shouldn’t ask me a bunch of questions about where I’m from, which I’m sure he thought was totally normal.

I know she told him this because as soon as she’d left the table, he said, “so Mara says I’m not supposed to ask you a bunch of questions about where you’re from.”
I said, “Yes, I’m very sensitive about it. I like to think people don’t notice I have an accent.”

They’re a fun family, and we had a very amusing evening, partly because we ended up talking about the region where I’m from and Bristolian accents (it’s not that I object to talking about my homeland, it’s just that the same. old. questions. again. and. again. get old. And it’s not always fun to feel like the novelty act).

We had a delicious French breakfast in Berkeley, with citron presse’ and gingerbread pancakes; we scenically drove to Half Moon Bay, and looked for shells; we wandered around San Francisco, and the sun shone, and flowers bloomed, and we went to the Legion of Honour and the De Young, and saw a Giacometti sketch exhibition, and a Masterpieces from the Musee D’Orsay exhibition, and one of Amish quilts, and they were all uplifting and beautiful. And we saw brides everywhere. It was a weekend theme. Brides in white, and purple, and with green umbrellas, and with pretty bridesmaids, and stunning scenery.




You always hear that people in California never get out of their cars, but it's not true!



The reason for the season--Tricia and Stephen were married at the Oakland temple.




Brides everywhere...



View from the Legion of Honour



Angie, me, and Mara. Angie's a bit cut off here, but I looked hideous in the one where she wasn't, and it's my blog!